Origanum syriacum
Details Top
| Internal ID | UUID643fe59a3ef87765148482 |
| Scientific name | Origanum syriacum |
| Authority | L. |
| First published in | Sp. Pl. : 590 (1753) |
Ethnobotanical Use Top
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Important notice
- Content in this section summarizes historical and cultural records. It is not medical advice.
- Do not use plants for self-treatment. Safety, efficacy, and appropriate use are not established here.
- Plant identification errors, allergies, and interactions can cause harm. Consult qualified professionals for health questions.
- Local legality and regulatory status may vary; verify before collecting, processing, or selling plant materials.
Origanum syriacum L. (Syrian oregano) is widely gathered and cultivated in the Levant for both culinary and medicinal purposes. In Palestine and Israel, the herb—locally called za’atar—is dried and the leaves are steeped in hot water to make a tea used for coughs, colds, and general digestive complaints, with preparations documented by Ethnomedicine Field Research and by Neilson’s 2012 report from the SRTES “Syrian Oregano” project. Among Syrian, Lebanese, and Jordanian communities, dried leaf infusions are similarly employed for respiratory and digestive relief, including a rosewater-scented “za’atar tea” with lemon noted by Taqi (2014) in Jordanian ethnobotany. In Cyprus, where the species occurs as a wild subspecies, folk use includes leaf infusions for colds and indigestion, as recorded by Arnold-Apostolides (1991). Decoctions of leaves and tops are less common, but local reports from Palestinian hamlets describe short decoctions for coughs and sore throats (Batanouny, 1999).
A practical leaf tea can be made as follows: steep 1 to 2 teaspoons (about 1–2 g) of dried crushed leaves in 200 ml of near-boiling water for 5 to 7 minutes, then strain and drink while warm up to 2 cups daily. Reports from Jordan and Palestine note occasional additions of honey or lemon to soothe sore throats (Taqi, 2014; SRTES, 2012). Do not exceed moderate daily doses; because this species shares high phenolic content and strong essential oils with other Origanum species, people taking anticoagulants or with bleeding disorders should use caution, and pregnant or nursing individuals should limit intake or avoid medicinal doses without professional guidance.
Phytochemistry consistent with this use profile includes carvacrol and thymol as major constituents in the essential oil (Baser, 2008), together with flavonoids (e.g., luteolin and apigenin derivatives) and rosmarinic acid—antioxidant and phenolic compounds documented for Origanum syriacum and implicated in the plant’s well-established antimicrobial and spasmolytic activity.
Ongoing research supports modest antioxidant and antimicrobial effects (Baser, 2008; Hadjikakou et al., 2017), and dried za’atar, whole-leaf teas, and leaf-infused olive oil remain commercially and culturally available across the Levant and diaspora communities (SRTES, 2012; Taqi, 2014).
General Uses Top
Suggest a correction!Common products:
• Dried leaves used as a culinary spice/herb in Middle Eastern cuisine.
• Leaves and stems sold as “Syrian oregano,” “za’atar oregano,” and “bible hyssop.”
• Essential oil (carvacrol-rich) used as a flavoring agent in foods and a fragrance in cosmetics and soaps.
Industrial and craft applications:
• No wood or fiber uses. The aerial parts may be used as dried potpourri or in sachets for fragrance.
Food and beverages (non-medicinal):
• Leaves harvested before flowering, dried, and mechanically cleaned; used as a seasoning in spice blends and as a single-herb product.
• Fresh or dried leaves incorporated as a culinary herb.
• Essential oil used at very low levels as a natural flavoring in foods; concentration determined by flavor objectives and flavoring law.
Colorants and tanning:
• No documented dyes or tannins from this species.
Wood and fiber:
• No wood, timber, or fiber products. Plant is herbaceous.
Fragrance and cosmetics:
• Essential oil used as a fragrance in soaps and toiletries; dose limited by safety and IFRA/ISO guidance for essential oils.
Properties relevant to use:
• Leaves yield an essential oil typically rich in carvacrol, with thymol and p-cymene as common minor constituents.
• The aromatic profile is characterized by a strong, warm, thyme-like note derived from carvacrol.
• Flavorants and fragrances must comply with identity and purity requirements for natural essential oils.
Standards and regulation:
• Dried spice: marketed under international spice nomenclature and quality standards for dried herbs.
• Essential oil: governed by IFRA Standards and ISO 3216 for essential oils; in cosmetics, formulations must meet safety requirements under EU Cosmetics Regulation or comparable national frameworks.
• Food flavorings are controlled by specific flavoring regulations and maximum use levels.
Sustainability and sourcing:
• The species is predominantly wild-harvested, raising concerns about habitat pressure in parts of its range; cultivated supply and sustainable wild-collection initiatives can mitigate impacts.
Synonyms Top
| Scientific name | Authority | First published in |
|---|---|---|
| Majorana syriaca | (L.) Raf. | Autik. Bot. : 119 (1840) |
| Schizocalyx syriacus | (L.) Scheele | Flora 26: 575. 1843 |
Common names Top
Add a new one! Suggest a correction!| Language | Common/alternative name |
|---|---|
| English | biblical-hyssop |
| English | majorana syriaca |
| English | biblical hyssop |
| English | bible hyssop |
| English | lebanese oregano |
| English | syrian oregano |
| Arabic | زعتر |
| Arabic | مردقوش سوري |
| Bulgarian | сирийски риган |
| Persian | اوریگانوم سیراکام |
| Hebrew | אזוב מצוי |
| Hebrew | צעתר |
| Japanese | シリアンオレガノ |
| Korean | 시리아오레가노 |
| Polish | lebiodka syryjska |
| Russian | душица сирийская |
| Russian | majorana syriaca |
| Swedish | syrisk oregano |
| Ukrainian | Затар |
| Ukrainian | Материнка сирійська |
Subspecies (abbr. subsp./ssp.) Top
Add a new one! Suggest a correction!| Name | Authority | First published in |
|---|---|---|
| Origanum syriacum subsp. bevanii | (Holmes) Greuter & Burdet | Willdenowia 14: 301 (1984 publ. 1985) |
| Origanum syriacum subsp. sinaicum | (Boiss.) Greuter & Burdet | Willdenowia 14: 301 (1984 publ. 1985) |
| Origanum syriacum subsp. syriacum | Unknown |
Germination/Propagation Top
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No germination or propagation data was added yet.
Distribution (via POWO/KEW) Top
Legend for the distribution data:
- Doubtful data
- Extinct
- Introduced
- Native
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Asia-temperate click to expand
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Arabian Peninsula
- Saudi Arabia
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Western Asia
- Cyprus
- Lebanon-Syria
- Palestine
- Sinai
- Turkey
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Arabian Peninsula
Links to other databases Top
Suggest others/fix!| Database | ID/link to page |
|---|---|
| World Flora Online | wfo-0000260740 |
| Tropicos | 100234908 |
| KEW | urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:453375-1 |
| The Plant List | kew-143930 |
| Missouri Botanical Garden | 257125 |
| Open Tree Of Life | 731839 |
| NCBI Taxonomy | 1082757 |
| IPNI | 453375-1 |
| iNaturalist | 340456 |
| GBIF | 6411178 |
| Freebase | /m/0t52kt4 |
| EPPO | ORISY |
| EOL | 483861 |
| USDA GRIN | 448310 |
| Wikipedia | Origanum_syriacum |
Genomes (via NCBI) Top
No reference genome is available on NCBI yet. We are constantly monitoring for new data.
Scientific Literature Top
Below are displayed the latest 15 articles published in PMC (PubMed Central®) and other sources (DOI number only)!
If you wish to see all the related articles click here.
If you wish to see all the related articles click here.
| Title | Authors | Publication | Released | IDs | ||||||
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| Re‐evaluation of certain aspects of the EFSA Scientific Opinion of April 2010 on risk assessment of parasites in fishery products, based on new scientific data. Part 1: ToRs1–3 | Koutsoumanis K, Allende A, Alvarez‐Ordóñez A, Bover‐Cid S, Chemaly M, De Cesare A, Herman L, Hilbert F, Lindqvist R, Nauta M, Nonno R, Peixe L, Ru G, Simmons M, Skandamis P, Suffredini E, Buchmann K, Careche M, Levsen A, Mattiucci S, Mladineo I, Santos MJ, Barcia‐Cruz R, Broglia A, Chuzhakina K, Goudjihounde SM, Guerra B, Messens W, Guajardo IM, Bolton D | EFSA J | 22-Apr-2024 |
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| Potential therapeutic targets of the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway in triple-negative breast cancer | Long L, Fei X, Chen L, Yao L, Lei X | Front Oncol | 18-Apr-2024 |
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| Nutritional and Physiological Properties of Thymbra spicata: In Vitro Study Using Fecal Fermentation and Intestinal Integrity Models | Khalil M, Piccapane F, Vacca M, Celano G, Mahdi L, Perniola V, Apa CA, Annunziato A, Iacobellis I, Procino G, Calasso M, De Angelis M, Caroppo R, Portincasa P | Nutrients | 21-Feb-2024 |
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| Use of Essential Oils to Counteract the Phenomena of Antimicrobial Resistance in Livestock Species | Lupia C, Castagna F, Bava R, Naturale MD, Zicarelli L, Marrelli M, Statti G, Tilocca B, Roncada P, Britti D, Palma E | Antibiotics (Basel) | 07-Feb-2024 |
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| Effects of essential oils on egg production and feed efficiency as influenced by laying hen breed: A meta-analysis | Darmawan A, Öztürk E, Güngör E, Özlü Ş, Jayanegara A | Vet World | 23-Jan-2024 |
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| Phytochemical Profile, GC-MS Profiling and In Vitro Evaluation of Some Biological Applications of the Extracts of Origanum syriacum L. and Cousinia libanotica D.C. | Dawra M, Bouajila J, El Beyrouthy M, Taillandier P, Nehme N, El Rayess Y | Plants (Basel) | 03-Jan-2024 |
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| Ethnomedicinal evaluation of medicinal plants used for therapies by men and women in rural and urban communities in Makkah district | Qari SH, Alqethami A, Qumsani AT | Saudi Pharm J | 02-Dec-2023 |
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| Antimicrobial Potential of Different Isolates of Chaetomium globosum Combined with Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry Chemical Profiling | Goda MS, El-Kattan N, Abdel-Azeem MA, Allam KA, Badr JM, Nassar NA, Almalki AJ, Alharbi M, Elhady SS, Eltamany EE | Biomolecules | 21-Nov-2023 |
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| The significance of essential oils and their antifungal properties in the food industry: A systematic review | Abdi-Moghadam Z, Mazaheri Y, Rezagholizade-shirvan A, Mahmoudzadeh M, Sarafraz M, Mohtashami M, Shokri S, Ghasemi A, Nickfar F, Darroudi M, Hossieni H, Hadian Z, Shamloo E, Rezaei Z | Heliyon | 29-Oct-2023 |
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| Proposed mechanisms of action of herbal drugs and their biologically active constituents in the treatment of coughs: an overview | Pourova J, Dias P, Pour M, Bittner Fialová S, Czigle S, Nagy M, Tóth J, Balázs VL, Horváth A, Csikós E, Farkas Á, Horváth G, Mladěnka P | PeerJ | 24-Oct-2023 |
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| Enhanced Natural Strength: Lamiaceae Essential Oils and Nanotechnology in In Vitro and In Vivo Medical Research | Kowalczyk T, Merecz-Sadowska A, Ghorbanpour M, Szemraj J, Piekarski J, Bijak M, Śliwiński T, Zajdel R, Sitarek P | Int J Mol Sci | 17-Oct-2023 |
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| Effects of Origanum majorana on Breast Cancer Cells: An Alternative to Chemotherapy? | Sanders Z, Moffitt BA, Treaster M, Larkins A, Khulordava N, Benjock J, Spencer J, Henrie K, Wurst MJ, Broom A, Tamez N, DeRosa G, Campbell M, Keller E, Powell A, Weinbrenner D, Abenavoli L, Edenfield WJ, Chung K, Boccuto L, Ivankovic D | Metabolites | 16-Oct-2023 |
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| Anti-oomycete activities from essential oils and their major compounds on Phytophthora infestans | Deweer C, Sahmer K, Muchembled J | Environ Sci Pollut Res Int | 02-Oct-2023 |
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| Antioxidant, Antiglaucoma, Anticholinergic, and Antidiabetic Effects of Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) Oil: Metabolite Profile Analysis Using LC-HR/MS, GC/MS and GC-FID | Ozden EM, Bingol Z, Mutlu M, Karagecili H, Köksal E, Goren AC, Alwasel SH, Gulcin İ | Life (Basel) | 20-Sep-2023 |
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| Mediterranean Plants as Potential Source of Biopesticides: An Overview of Current Research and Future Trends | Fragkouli R, Antonopoulou M, Asimakis E, Spyrou A, Kosma C, Zotos A, Tsiamis G, Patakas A, Triantafyllidis V | Metabolites | 22-Aug-2023 |
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Phytochemical Profile Top
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Collections Top
| In private collections | 0 |
| In public collections | 0 |